CINCINNATI - At the NFL Combine in late February, Steelers coach Bill Cowher was asked about his mocking of the Cincinnati Bengals' victory chant.
"I know; I know," Cowher said. "I'm not going to be well-liked in Cincinnati."

He got that right.

Bengals fans with long memories aren't hard to find. Just spend five minutes downtown.

"I didn't like it -- and a lot of Cincinnati fans didn't like it," said Rhonda Hall, manager of a Bruegger's Bagels near Paul Brown Stadium. "They were taking our chant and turning it against us."

"I think it was pretty classless," said Damien Fullinger, 25. "They'd taken out our quarterback (Carson Palmer), and they were rubbing it in our face."

NFL Films had captured Cowher leading his team in a "Who Dey? We Dey!" chant in the locker room after a playoff victory here. It was a play on the Bengals' victory chant, which goes, "Who Dey? Who Dey? Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals?"

A month later, at the Steelers' Super Bowl victory parade, Cowher again conducted his version of the chant, this time with a quarter of a million Steelers fans.

Cowher stepped to the microphone that day and said, "When I say 'Who Dey!' you say, 'We Dey!' Ready? ... Who Dey?"

The crowd responded to three Cowher prompts, after which the coach exclaimed, "I love that!"

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis didn't particularly like it, but he was quick to use some footage as a motivational tool going into Sunday's game at Heinz Field.

Before practice Wednesday, Lewis showed his players video of the Steelers' locker-room celebration in Cincinnati.

"My first time seeing it was this morning," said receiver Chad Johnson. "Coach played it for us, and, I don't know, it's just ... very rude."

"We don't need any motivation, but (Cowher) said it, and you can't take it off tape; you can't erase it," said defensive tackle John Thornton. "Just like after we beat them up there, guys were wiping their shoes with the Terrible Towels, using it as a bib. It's give-and-take, but those guys, they took it a lot further than we did."

Thornton, an ex-West Virginia star, laughed and added, "You do things after a win that you normally wouldn't do ... but he did it again after the Super Bowl win. I actually went up to a basketball game (in Pittsburgh) to see West Virginia play and people were doing it there, so I guess their whole city likes Cincinnati a lot. We have to take it as a sign of respect."

Cowher insisted in February and repeated yesterday that he meant no harm.

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery," Cowher said in a conference call with Cincinnati reporters.

Lewis, in his news conference yesterday, initially denied having seen a clip of the Steelers' locker-room celebration. A reporter then informed Lewis that his players revealed he'd shown them the clip earlier in the day.

"They've seen it," Lewis said, smiling. "We do a lot of different things every morning."

Several Bengals players, including Palmer, couldn't have cared less about Cowher's antics.

"People have different opinions of that," Palmer said. "I don't think much of it. I'm sure they were excited to beat us and move on. Who knows what we're going to be saying if we have a chance to beat them and move on."

Offensive tackle Willie Anderson, a long-time voice of reason in the Bengals' locker room, believes the whole thing is a waste of time.

"It was our fault they won the game, you know what I mean?" Anderson said. "They deserved to win. For me personally, I'm not going to use a Who-Dey chant to get me fired up. I'm a professional football player. I'm going to go out there and play hard every week. To me, the old Bengals teams would have used that, saying, 'They used the Who-Dey chant.' Come on, man. Championship teams don't use that."

Bungal fan: "I didn't like it -- and a lot of Cincinnati fans didn't like it," said Rhonda Hall, manager of a Bruegger's Bagels near Paul Brown Stadium. "They were taking our chant and turning it against us."

Bungal fan: "I think it was pretty classless," said Damien Fullinger, 25. "They'd taken out our quarterback (Carson Palmer), and they were rubbing it in our face."

Chad Johnson: "My first time seeing it was this morning," said receiver Chad Johnson. "Coach played it for us, and, I don't know, it's just ... very rude."

:coffee: :yawn:

X-Terminator

09-21-2006, 12:17 AM

They can all cry me a big, long, triple-wide river. Cincinnati fans thought it was SO hilarious when TJ and CJ used the Terrible Towel as a bib and to wipe their shoes, and when they get a little bit of their own medicine, they whine about it being "classless" and act like they're so innocent. Give me a break. As Allen Iverson's mom once said..."get outta my face with that crazy stuff!"

83-Steelers-43

09-21-2006, 12:34 AM

I guess they also forgot about Marvin's classy comments pertaining to Ben Roethlisberger last year. That's hush-hush.

jaysta

09-21-2006, 12:45 AM

I guess they also forgot about Marvin's classy comments pertaining to Ben Roethlisberger last year. That's hush-hush.

I'm putting bets that the drunk Cincy and Steelers fans in the stadium might just hit one another as much as the players on the field. If not maybe Cowher and Marv could duke it out for a halftime showdown. :boxing:

SteelersNationsfl

09-21-2006, 12:46 AM

I guess they also forgot about Marvin's classy comments pertaining to Ben Roethlisberger last year. That's hush-hush.

They can all cry me a big, long, triple-wide river. Cincinnati fans thought it was SO hilarious when TJ and CJ used the Terrible Towel as a bib and to wipe their shoes, and when they get a little bit of their own medicine, they whine about it being "classless" and act like they're so innocent. Give me a break. As Allen Iverson's mom once said..."get outta my face with that crazy stuff!"

Y'know, a friend forwarded this article to me earlier and your comments reflect exactly what first came to my mind too. If they're going to actively seek to mock one of the symbols of our team - long before there was ever a 'We Dey' controversy - and C. Johnson takes tremendous pleasure in promoting himself at every opportunity, it's only fair game that other teams get to use their rallying cries to motivate themselves as well. Johnson becomes a media doll for it; we look like arrogant sabre-rattlers...far from fair.

I'm not going to raise a fuss about the Terrible Towel episode, as few Steelers fans have - hell, it was probably good for our team - but you can't be hypocritical about it either.

Here's to representing a classy team from a classy city.

HometownGal

09-21-2006, 07:36 AM

Here's to representing a classy team from a classy city.

With longtime classy fans who don't jump on and off the bandwagon like.....well, you know. :tt02:

Steelers

09-21-2006, 07:46 AM

It's a home game for us on Sunday, right?

stlrtruck

09-21-2006, 07:54 AM

I just wonder if the cinci fans, players, and organization realize that the New Orleans Saints first used that Who Dey chant? I remember hearing it from the Super Dome before hearing from the hole that is cinci!!!

And how is taking a chant and making fun of it going to far? Is everyone wearing orange and black stripes that sensitive? This is football, not some office atmosphere where you have to check with neighbor to see if they like something.

So quit your boo-hooing about some stupid chant that wasn't even yours to begin with!!!

Atlanta Dan

09-21-2006, 08:15 AM

I suppose what takes Cowher's comments to another level is that the players (and certainly the fans) are expected these days to talk trash but that the coaches usually stay under control.

While Cowher leading the Who Dey? chant in the locker room after the playoff win could be attributed to his excitement of finally winning a road playoff game in his 14th year in the league, I was surprised to see him repeat it at the victory parade (as ex-Reds & Tigers manager Sparky Anderson once said, it is not particularly difficult to be a gracious winner).

That having been said, the players and coaches on these 2 teams clearly dislike the other side and at least neither side is covering that up by making sanctimonious comments about the "tremendous respect" they have for the other team.